Admiration
by Loyal as a Book
Summary: Timothy Drake and Jason Todd met once before Jason's death. Jason may not remember, but Tim does. One-shot.


Summary: Timothy Drake and Jason Todd met once before Jason's death. Jason may not remember, but Tim does.

* * *

It was early in the night, so eleven year old Timothy Drake wasn't feeling tired. In fact, he had been looking forward to this night for days. When Mother said that he could go with her and Dad to the Wayne Foundation Gala at Bruce Wayne's Manor, Timothy had done his absolute best to not show any signs of excitement. After all, if Mother knew he was excited, she may not have let him go.

He stared in awe up at the mansion from behind his father's legs. Batman and Robin lived here. This was their home! First it was Bruce Wayne and Richard Grayson, the circus boy who watched his parents fall during their trapeze act. Timothy was in the audience that night, staring up at the boy crying on the platform. He was also staring up when Robin did a quadruple somersault, something only three people in the world could do and Richard Grayson was one of them.

Several months ago, Richard moved out of Gotham and began working fulltime with the Teen Titans as Nighwing, leaving Batman alone in Gotham. Timothy was worried since there was no one to watch Batman's back. He couldn't understand why Richard would give up being Robin since it was every kid's dream! But then a new Robin appeared. He wasn't as acrobatic as Nightwing, but he was strong and fast like Batman.

Mother and Dad spoke of the changes in Wayne Manor. Apparently the upper social circle was all chattering over Mr. Wayne adopting an orphaned street kid from Crime Alley. While Mother huffed over a wealthy man taking in a filthy street rat, Timothy's admiration for Robin grew to supernova level. Jason Todd's fighting style and dark background was just too similar to Bruce Wayne to be a coincidence. Mr. Wayne was training Jason to take over as Batman for him!

Timothy followed his parents through the front doors into the glittering entrance hall. Mr. Wayne stood in the middle of the room greeting guests as they came through his door. Timothy was disappointed to see his side vacant of a thirteen year old hero.

"Jack! Janet! How are you? I'm so glad you were able to make it tonight." Mr. Wayne's smile was bright and welcoming, the complete opposite of Batman's scowl. He also wasn't as tall as Timothy thought he'd be.

"We wouldn't miss it," Dad replied as he shook hands with Mr. Wayne. "I'd like to introduce you to our son, Timothy."

Timothy found it difficult to breathe when those eyes were turned onto him, "It's very nice to meet you Timothy. Welcome to my home."

The child tried to ignore the butterflies in his stomach, "Thank you, Mr. Wayne."

"Is Richard here?" Mother asked. The butterflies settled when the man's attention turned away from him.

"Unfortunately, no," Mr. Wayne's smile was tighter at the corners. "Dick couldn't get away from school."

"What about your new son?" Dad asked.

"Jason?" Mr. Wayne's smile was near blinding. His entire face lit up at the question. "He's here, of course. He won't be joining the gala but he has a couple friends over from school."

"Why won't he be joining us?" Timothy felt his face pale at Mother's question and Dad's fingers twitched. Both of them knew that Mother's question was completely unnecessary and rude. Mr. Wayne must have felt the same because his face dimmed.

"Tonight's charity hits a little too close to home for Jason," the Wayne Foundation was raising money for homeless and underprivileged youth, which was why children were invited. Mr. Wayne looked down at Timothy again. "He and his friends are in the games room, no doubt breaking in Jason's new PlayStation. If you get bored Timothy, just ask one of the servers and they can show you where the boys are."

An invitation to hang out with Robin? Yes please!

"Thank you," Mother cut in. "I'm sure Timothy would be happy to take you up on your offer. We'll let you go now." A line had formed behind them.

"Of course, enjoy the party." Mr. Wayne waved at Timothy as his parents dragged him away.

"Timothy!" Mother snapped. "You are not to go near that boy, understand? He's a criminal and you should stay as far away from him as possible. His public school friends will be just as bad."

Mother didn't know Jason! How could she say that about him? But Timothy didn't argue, he just said "Yes, Mother."

"Good. Now there's Christopher Warren. He and his friends are appropriate so go over there and talk to them."

Timothy slowly trudged over to Christopher Warren, a blond haired, brown eyed son of a wealthy Gotham industrialist. They were in the same class at Gotham Academy, but Christopher was the stereotypical rich snob and had a wide circle of friends with a similar outlook on life. He and Timothy rarely spoke unless at one of these parties. He was surrounded by his usual group of friends. It made Timothy's stomach churn.

"Hello Christopher, may I join you?"

Christopher looked down his nose at the shorter boy. Actually, Timothy was shorter than Christopher's entire group of friends, including the girls Alice and Britney.

"I suppose so," he drawled. His voice was nasally, like he was just getting over a cold.

Timothy stood silently within the circle of his classmates. None of them attempted to engage him in conversation and Timothy was not particularly interested in their discussions that closely resembled gossip. Instead, he kept an eye on the room and followed Mr. Wayne's progress as his flitted between groups, speaking to everyone and no one at the same time.

"… To think that a man of his pedigree would take in a stray like that!" Timothy tuned into the conversation again.

"I know!" Alice whined. "Personally, I am so pleased that the street rat is in a public school. I could have shared a classroom with him!"

Timothy wanted to point out that Jason, who he was sure they were talking about, was three years older than Alice but his voice remained silent. Mother always told him to never disagree.

"He's probably covered in disease," plump Dudley interjected. "I think it's best that he remain away from the gala. I wouldn't want to catch one of his diseases."

The rest of the group cruelly chuckled. Timothy's scowl deepened.

"The boy is nothing more than a stray dog. Wayne was missing Grayson and decided to rescue this new one from the streets because he felt sorry for it. But you cannot change a dog's pedigree; once a mutt, always a mutt," said Christopher.

"That's not very nice," Timothy mumbled. He thought no one heard him but Alice turned her sharp eyes onto him.

"What did you say?"

Timothy swallowed at having the entire group's attention on him. He could lie and agree with them like Mother would want him to do or he could say what he was thinking and disagree with them.

What would Robin do?

"I said: that's not very nice," Timothy repeated, raising his voice to be heard over the chatter around them. The other eleven year olds scowled at him.

"It's the truth, Drake," Christopher argued.

"According to you," Timothy felt his backbone disintegrating at the glares his classmates were giving him.

Dudley snorted disdainfully, "What? You think the street rat is equal to us?"

"No," Timothy ignored their smirks, "I think he's better than us."

The small boy almost quivered under the force of their glares. Mother will be furious!

A voice with a strong Bowery accent from behind him cut in before anyone could verbally tear into Timothy.

"I like the way the kid thinks."

Jason Todd was standing behind him. Dressed in a plain black t-shirt, dark baggy blue jeans, and dark red Converse sneakers, he stood out amongst the tuxedos and cocktail dresses. His hair was stylishly messy, like organized bedhead, and his skin was a darker tone than Mr. Wayne's. He was at least three inches taller than Christopher and his arms were toned and muscular, especially when they were crossed over his chest. His teal eyes were sharp and intelligent, analyzing the group dynamics.

It wasn't his clothing or his height or his wickedly cool hair that had Timothy staring in awe. It was his confident posture. It was the way he stood his ground and looked down on people that were wearing clothes which could cover rent for an apartment in Crime Alley for a year. It was the way he ignored the stares and whispers of Gotham's gossiping elite because they meant nothing to him. It was the way he had Alice and Britney giggling over his looks even though they were just criticizing his heritage not 30 seconds ago. This wasn't just Jason Todd; this was Robin, the Boy Wonder!

Timothy felt like he was going to throw up.

"You must be Mr. Wayne's new son," Christopher straightened his back to try and make himself look taller.

"What the hell is wrong with your voice?" Jason ignored Christopher's question, "did your mom mate with a bat?"

Britney sniggered behind her hand and Christopher turned bright red, "Who do you think you are to say that to me? I'm Christopher Warren! My father is-"

"I don't give a rat's ass who your father is," the taller boy waved his hand at Christopher like he was dismissing him. "And I know who I am. I'm Jason motherfucking Todd! I do what I want, when I want and I don't give a fuck what you think of me!" He leaned in closer, looming over the shorter boy like a miniature Batman. "Got a problem with that?"

"No!" Christopher's voice broke through several octaves and the boy's face turned bright red. He turned and shuffled off through the crowd, his friends following. Only Britney glanced back before they were swallowed up by waves of tuxedos and thousand dollar dresses.

"Well, that was fun," he stopped when he noticed the smallest one was still glued to his spot. Timothy was absolutely sure that his face looked ridiculous, but Robin was so cool! He was everything Timothy imagined him to be: tough, confident, a defender, a social rebel. Jason was also staring at him like he was completely crazy.

Jason eyed him suspiciously, "Is there something you want, kid?"

Timothy was afraid his voice would not work so he shook his head in negation.

"Ooookaaaay" Jason looked ready to bolt. "I'll be going then-"

"Jason!" Bruce Wayne came up behind his son and clapped a hand on the boy's shoulder. Batman and Robin! Together! "What are you doing out of hiding? I thought you and your friends were playing video games?"

"We were but we got bored. Can we use the pool? The indoor one?"

Mr. Wayne frowned, "I know some of your friends are on the swim team but I don't feel comfortable having them use my pool without any adult supervision."

Jason crossed his arms and frowned. Timothy was starting to feel very much out of place.

"Well …" a sweet feminine voice interjected. "Would I do?"

Mr. Wayne and Jason both greeted Barbara Gordon enthusiastically. Timothy was starting to feel like his dreams had come true. Batman, Robin, and Batgirl were all in front of him. He just needed Nightwing to complete the scene.

"Really, I don't mind watching them at all. Anything to get out of these heels," she joked.

"Alright, but on one condition," Mr. Wayne turned to Timothy. "I see Jason scared away your friends, Timothy. Would you like to go swimming as well?"

Jason slapped a hand on his face in exasperation, "Thanks, Bruce. Way to make me sound like a horror movie villain."

"They weren't really my friends," Timothy mumbled.

Mr. Wayne and Jason exchanged glances, "Come on then Timmy. Let's go swimming!" Jason grabbed Timothy's elbow and dragged him towards one of the side doors.

"But I don't have a bathing suit!"

"You have underwear don't you?"

Two hours later, Timothy was laughing so hard he was surprised he hadn't died from asphyxiation. Jason's friends from public school were loud, obnoxious, and funny. Marvin and his twin sister Marley had the habit of finishing each other's sentences; that is, if they weren't arguing over who got the bigger water-gun. Joey wasn't particularly bright, but his large mass made for excellent cannonball waves. Jason acted as the leader of the group and he made sure "Timmy" was being included. Barbara Gordon cheered them on from the pool deck.

They were in the TV room again. Timothy's underwear was drying over a chair and he was trying really hard not to scratch himself. His suit's pants were really itchy and uncomfortable. Timothy complained a bit at first until Jason reminded him that not all kids got underwear so he should just deal with it.

Timothy was watching them take turns playing a game called Mortal Kombat. Jason gave him a tutorial of the game but the younger child didn't grasp the game controllers very well. Instead Timothy acted as a very quiet cheerleader.

The fun ended when Timothy's mother flew in like a hurricane, her eyes dark and angry, and her mouth in a thin line. She roughly tugged Timothy away from the TV; his father quickly scooped up his underwear and winked at Timothy when it disappeared out of sight. While Jason's friends looked shocked at her behavior, Jason's face was unreadable and Mr. Wayne did not seem happy.

As if to counteract his mother's rudeness, Timothy waved forlornly, "Bye Jason."

Jason smiled and gave a two finger salute, "See ya, Tim."

After his night with Jason Todd, he decided to go by Tim and not Timothy. He gave up on appeasing his mother's social climbing demands. He started speaking up when he felt something was not right. Tim wanted to be a stronger person the next time he saw Jason so that Robin wouldn't feel the need to protect him.

But the next time Tim would see Jason was when his school picture was used in the page four announcement of his death in the Gotham Gazette. His father sadly suggested sending condolences to Mr. Wayne; his mother huffed and mumbled about leopards never changing their spots.

Tim cut out the article and carefully placed it in his Batman and Robin scrapbook. He had to do it quickly before his tears made the words illegible. That day, Tim learned that heroes are not invincible and how incredibly painful it was to watch one fall.

* * *

Just a little thought of what the definition of a hero can mean to a child.


End file.
